If you're looking for a costume that reflects the sweeter side of Halloween, a cotton candy theme may just be the costume you’re looking for. This delightful homemade cotton candy costume is quick and easy to make using some household items.

Assemble your costume base. Your costume base is what you are going to glue the cotton candy (poly-fil stuffing) to. Some adult costumes use a pink or white dress as their base, whereas children’s costumes tend to use pink leggings, tights, t-shirts, leotards, etc. [5][6]

It doesn’t matter what kind of base you use for your costume, but aim to have your base a pink color, or whatever color cotton candy you are going for.

Consider looking through thrift stores or recycled clothing stores to find cheap clothes that can work as your costume base.

3

Lay out newspaper. Lay sheets of newspaper on a flat surface either outside, or in an area with excellent ventilation.[7] This is where you will be spray painting and gluing the poly-fil onto your clothing. This will protect the surface from the products you're using.

The fumes from the spray paint can be noxious, so it’s best to work somewhere with fresh air.

4

Spray paint the poly-fil. Open the bag of poly-fil and gently pull apart the pieces of stuffing. Spread all of the poly-fil over the newspaper and carefully being to spray paint the stuffing from 18 inches away.[8]

It’s okay if there are sections that not as heavily painted as other sections. This will actually help the poly-fil look more like real cotton candy.[9]

You don’t want to spray paint the poly-fil too close, because the paint will spray on too thick and ruin the texture of the stuffing. Allow the painted ploy-fil to dry for approximately 1 hour.[10]

5

Glue the poly fil onto your costume base. Plug in your hot glue gun and load in a couple sticks of glue. Lay your costume base onto the newspaper. When your glue is nice and hot, use the glue gun to draw a zig-zag (about 3-4 inches in height) line onto the bottom portion of your costume base.[11]

For example, if you are using a t-shirt and leggings for your costume base, draw a glue zig-zag across the bottom section of your t-shirt.[12] Place some poly-fil across and on top of the glue, and hold the stuffing in place for approximately 5 seconds.

Be sure to use an adequate amount of hot glue to make sure the poly-fil stays attached to your costume base.[13]

Keep gluing on small rows of stuffing, making sure to leave enough stuffing to cover the back of your costume base as well.

6

Fill in empty spaces. Be sure to glue some poly-fil in any spaces that have gaps between the stuffing (places like the sides of your dress or shirt, the underarms, dress straps, etc.).[14]

If you want the cotton candy to look fuller, consider adding a few pieces of poly-fil onto the first layer of cotton candy.[15] This can help give your costume some depth and make it look more life-like.

Part 2

Accessorizing The Costume

1

Create a cone headpiece. Take your white poster board, and roll one corner of the poster board to an adjacent corner, creating a cone shape with a pointy tip. Once you have your cone shape, attach the poster board together using the glue gun, adhesive spray, or taping the poster board together inside the cone.[16] Cut the cone from the opened end so the cone can fit on top of your head like a hat.

Consider attaching two pieces of ribbon on the sides of the cone, so you can tie the cone underneath your chin.

If you want to decorate the cone even more, you can attach a red ribbon about a ½ inch thick at the tip of the cone, wrap and glue it all around the the base of the cone.[17] This red ribbon will give the cone a spiral look.

2

Attach poly-fil to the cone. Draw a line of glue at the base of the cone hat, and attach more poly-fil.[18] Try and make this poly-fil as fluffy as possible; you want it to look like the cone is sitting on top of some cotton candy.

3

Apply cotton candy makeup. Apply as little or as much makeup as you like to try and mimic the cotton candy look. Put on some pink lipstick (the more pastel the better), pink blush to your cheekbones, pink eye shadow, and even brush on some glitter.[19]

The more makeup you have, the more extravagant your costume will be. Once all the pink makeup is on, you can continue doing your makeup as normal using eyeliner and mascara to finish.

4

Add the final touches. Once your costume is put together, consider wearing some sort of pink or pastel shoes.[20] This will wrap up and pull together your entire costume.

Consider painting your nails a light pink. Paying attention to the small details like your shoes, makeup, and nails will make your costume a memorable hit!

Community Q&A

It all depends on how large the area is that you will be covering: for small children's costumes, one 16oz bag might be enough. For adult costumes, consider using two 16oz bags. You rather have more stuffing than not enough.